


Disciples and Disciplines

by jecooksubether



Series: Tigereans and Weres [12]
Category: Furry (Fandom), Original Work
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe - Werecreatures, F/M, Multi, Original Fiction, POV First Person, Shapeshifting, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:00:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26386801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jecooksubether/pseuds/jecooksubether
Summary: Wherein the author spends a weekend getting to know  his companions better
Series: Tigereans and Weres [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1914835





	Disciples and Disciplines

**September 17th, 2010**

It had been a few weeks since the furor had finally died down, and as Sh’Meral and Ch’Mrr had been on their best behavior along with myself, I decided that they needed a treat to start the weekend off. I sent them a message stating that they needed to be dressed in some nice evening wear at the end of the work day, and together the three of us drove up to a place that had opened up recently. I had made it a point that my conventional firearms were stored in the locked bin under the seat- No matter that Ch’Mrr still had his gear under the impressively black suit and black sunglasses that made him look like a Secret Service Agent. I had mastered their standard sidearm, and I had one located... somewhere on my person. Sh’Meral had one as well, but she was more dressed to kill then anything. The blue dress that she had commissioned Mikaela to make for her made my jaw hit the floor when I first saw her wearing it.

As we handed the valet the key to the Liberty that we used as a demo machine, I handed him a twenty and told him that the starting instructions were on a placard, and to ‘take it easy- it’s got a lot more power than the run of the mill jeep’ and winked. Ch’Mrr tried to assume a protective position behind us as we had done in the past, but Sh’Meral took his arm on one side, my arm on the other, and the three of us strolled across the main floor of the casino on our way to the elevator. The looks we got were... amusing, to say the least.

We managed to make it almost to the hotel side of the floor when one of the security managers and the manager on duty stopped the three of us. I recognized both of them, and found out that they were curious as to why we were here, especially me of all people. I explained that the past couple months had been somewhat rough, and I wanted to treat them to a nice dinner. This was the first place I thought of. Satisfied, they wished us a good evening, and we got to the elevator and went up to the fifteenth floor.

“This was an excellent idea.” Sh’Meral remarked as we had polished off dessert. We had asked not for one of the private booths, but one of the tables in the main area. We figured that if we were going to get attention, that we might as well retain some semblance of control while we were doing it. The fact that the three of us were not only well dressed, but acted very politely got us more than a few looks and compliments in our direction. We finished up our meal and I paid the bill, and headed back down via the elevator.

As we got off and headed to the front door, I noticed a familiar looking face in the uniform that my former co-workers were required to wear walking up to us. While she was pissed at me for leaving the company, after I explained what I was up to (and handed her a card from the business that had been started to license and market the technology from the uplift program) she was much more impressed. I added, “The additional benefit of working with such outstanding people such as these-” I gestured to Sh’Meral and Ch’Mrr- “is an added bonus. Our world has much to learn from them, if we can only open our minds to the possibilities.”

As we got on the freeway, Sh’Meral instructed me to drive to their place instead of mine. “There’s nothing wrong with your place, but I think it’s time you spent the weekend at our place instead. Besides, I want to show you something.”

While the drive was uneventful, arriving at their place was... interesting, to say the least. The only thing I saw as I drove up was a freshly xeriscaped section of ground in front of a 15 foot wall. The entrance had a rather impressive looking semi-solid gate, which opened with a signal from a remote that Sh’Meral had removed from her handbag. There was a solid inner gate about 100 feet in, which stayed closed until the outer gate closed. The second it did, I sensed a spell kick on just behind us. Sh’Meral explained that is projected an illusion of an empty vehicle trap to anyone that might have been watching. The inner gate opened, and under her direction we drove to a villa near the back of the compound.

The compound consisted of a group of 12 villas, all of them single story. They were arranged with the rear of the villas all facing a common courtyard-type area which contained a pool, spa/hot tub, and a tennis court-sized patch of lawn. One of the villas was a common workshop area and was used to store maintenance equipment for the courtyard and other shared use items.

The area around the entrance had a number of smallish buildings with small windows facing the roadway and entrance. The paranoid in me immediately piped up, and after we passed them. I looked at Sh’Meral and said, “pillboxes for defense?”

Ch’Mrr spoke up. “Yes. We are very well defended here.”

As we approached the villa, Sh’Meral pressed a different button on the remote, and the doors to the garage opened to the sides from the middle, instead of the typical up/down motion that a normal door used. I pulled in and parked the jeep. Ch’Mrr got out rather quickly, and left the door wide open as he went in. Sh’Meral waited for me to get out, and led me in. The reason for Ch’Mrr’s rapid entrance was evident- As we went in, we saw parts of his suit sitting either on tables, or on chair backs, in a direct line to the back door. Fortunately, the pool was devoid of others, as I found the lowest layer of his clothing a few feet from the pool surface. Ch’Mrr called from the pool, “My apologies- I was getting rather warm in the jeep, despite the air conditioning.”

I nodded. “I figured it was something like that. I’ll get some towels for you to dry off when you get out.”

As I re-entered the villa, I saw Sh’Meral- sort of. Her dress was mostly upright, and her handbag was sticking out of one arm. “Oh! Can you take my bag and set it on the table? I’m somewhat stuck otherwise.”

I took the bag from her, and as the strap cleared the dress, she flipped the dress up and over her head... which was not much higher than my bellybutton. I knelt down after putting the bag on a nearby side table, and gazed into her embarrassed face. “I’m sure there’s a valid explanation for this. Care to help me get some towels for Ch’Mrr while I listen?”

She explained to me that it was her quirk. She had been gifted with her abilities at an early age, but her quirk appeared when she was fully grown- under stress, or at semi-random, her shape would change to the size she was when her abilities appeared. She said that she was probably going to stay like that for a day or two, but I sensed some unease with that statement.

As we made our way out to the pool with five towels, I asked where everyone was- There were 11 villas, but it appears to be just the three of us. “Oh, the rest of our people went back up to the ship for the weekend. The caretaker prefers his privacy over in his private villa, and the Archmage has business over in Europe at one of his other holdings. Ch’Mrr and myself elected to stay behind and show you this place, the Phoenix Bastion of Hope.”

I bowed in gratitude. “I am honored and grateful. Thank you.”

Ch’Mrr chuckled, and thanked us for bringing out the towels. Sh’Meral asked if he wanted a drink, and he nodded. She waved for me to follow her back into the villa, and as she made up three of what she called a “Ka’stoo Sunrise”, she started talking to me. “You’ll want to get out of that outfit after you finish getting that purple bottle from the middle cabinet.”

I handed her the bottle in question, and took off the suit coat and tie, at least, before stopping. “Um, I don’t have anything to change into, unless I pull up to hybrid.”

She looked at me and said, “I have a proposition for you. A bet, if you will. First, the stakes. I will give you what assistance we can provide in getting a permanent home, including providing leverage on the Archmage to either provide financial assistance, or placing you here. Yes, I know about the message the landlord sent you, although they are being honorable by not evicting you. If you lose, you will spend a full week in full morph form except for certain circumstances. As for the conditions of the bet: You will obey my directions within reason for the entire weekend, from 11 pm tonight to 11 pm Sunday night. You will remain in the form I specify, and you will wear what I specify. Your job will be to keep me happy.”

She finished mixing the last drink. “Questions?”

I nodded. “I’m assuming that i can veto your directions if i feel it’s a health or safety issue, or if I can prove that I would suffer because of it?” Getting a nod from her, I reached out a hand. “I accept, then. What is your desire?”

She took my hand at the wrist, and I received a minor shock, like a static shock. “This will seal the wager, then. That static shock is a very minor spell that will hold both of us to the deal. And my first order is to take off the remainder of that silly outfit. I think the first thing we need to do with you is to make you as comfortable in your own human skin as you are in your other forms.”

As I sheepishly started taking off the remainder of my clothes, I folded them neatly on a side table as Sh’Meral put the drinks on a small tray, and went into her room for a moment. She returned with a small device and a collar, and put it on me after commanding me to kneel down. “I have been told this collar might improve your ability to follow directions- I got it from the Archmage. The other device is a DNA sampler with a data-link to my communicator- I want to have a couple tests run on you, in the event we need to perform any major medical care on you.

I nodded meekly as she locked the collar into place and took a blood sample from a finger, and I picked the tray up and headed outside. I put the tray on the table, and as I turned around, she was right behind me with a cheesy grin on her muzzle as she pushed me into the pool.

**Saturday, 10:15 am**

I woke up in something of a haze, and staring at the feet of my currently pint sized lover. I couldn’t immediately remember the events after we got out of the pool and dried off, but as I thought about it, the entire sequence played back rapidly like a flashback. The problem was that I didn’t exactly recall myself being talked into doing what my memories showed me doing. I heard my own voice inside my head telling me to let Sh’Meral sleep, but I felt insistent. However, I didn’t get a chance to wake her up, as her comm beeped a couple times to indicate a message had been sent to it. Her words started muffled as she climbed around me and turned herself to be face to face with me, and I managed to get a face full of her lower belly as she read the message on her comm and on her datapad.

“Mmm... Good morning. Hmm... Oh dear. This changes a few things. How are you feeling this morning?”

I started to say that I was not quite alright, but the words that came out were “I’m fine, my love. How are you?”

She moved back down my body, looked directly at my eyes, and started to initiate a mental link, but stopped. Instead, she said, “I suspect you are not, and that does not make me happy. Let us find out what is really going on in your silly mind of yours.”

I had visibly flinched when she stated that she was not happy, and I immediately replied, “Is it something I have done, or not done that has displeased you?”

She shook her head. “No. Your actions are not to blame, however, you are not acting like yourself, and I want to know why. I think it’s all related to the collar I put on you last night- that’s when it all started. In addition, the results of your DNA tests have come back, which leaves me slightly concerned.”

I tried to tell her what I felt was going on, but I managed to get out a single syllable before I felt a flash of pain originating around my neck. “I---!!”

I saw the look of worry on her face, and she said “And that’s the final bit of proof I need.” She reached to the back of my neck, and unlocked the collar. Almost immediately, I slapped it out of her hands, lest it turned its power on her. Glaring at me, she put her free hand on my upper chest directly below my neck and pressed down, not an entirely pleasant feeling with her claws tapping on my manubrium through the skin. I froze stock still and waited for her next move.

“What was that for? It’s harmless when it’s open.”

I slowly drew in a breath. “I was not certain, and I didn't want that... thing to get a hold on you instead.” Even though we didn’t have a link between our minds, she picked up on the anger that was building as I regained full control over my facilities. I clamped down on it and continued. “I will have a discussion with my master about giving people cursed items to put on his apprentices that remove all control from them.”

The look of horror on her face as she realized what she had accidentally done quickly turned to anger. “No, you will NOT. I take full responsibility for this.” I shook my head and continued.

“You of all people know what my worst fears are. I am NOT happy at the loss of control I suffered overnight to that device, especially if what I suspect my results are from that datapad. While I am not certain if he knows of this fear, he damn well should have known that the loss of self-control for a mage is the worst possible problem I can think of- all that power and ability, and absolutely no control or limitations on it.

“You know the mantra- Discipline, focus, and above all else, self-control. All three are required for a mage to manipulate magic safely and effectively. Loss of self-control is unthinkable- my only saving grace is that you commanded me to remain in this form, so the ability was blocked by a razor thin line. I don’t know what my master was thinking, but I will make certain that his apprentice is not pleased that his idea of a practical joke had more dire consequences then he might have thought.”

I closed my eyes and waited for her to put her claws in further and crush my chest. I knew she was not pleased either, and she was furious at my sudden rage. Instead, her claws retracted, I felt her heal my wounds, and she said, “I declare the wager invalid, with no penalty to either side, due to a circumstance previously unknown to both of us. Do you concur?”

I nodded my head, suddenly aware of the pain from the binding spell on my right arm which vanished the instant I nodded. I opened my eyes, looked at her, and said, “I’m willing to continue, under the condition that the collar is not used.”

The look on her face made up for the suffering she had inflicted on me. “OK, but I will raise the stakes, then- If you succeed, I will give you free access to the technology and theory behind our ship to planet communications network, for use however you wish. This is in addition to the assistance with housing. What do you have to counter with?”

I smiled. “I am willing to take a second attempt with that collar for a week, as long as safeguards are put into place to nullify my abilities in full form.” Her eyes grew wide, and she shook her head vigorously.

“Absolutely NOT. Instead, make it morph-locked in your full form for two weeks, and you will remain in that form unless you need to use a bathroom, or for work. While in that form, you will remain mute, and appear as much an earth tiger as possible. We’ll pass you off as being a present from an anonymous donor to study. Agreed?”

I took her right wrist in my hand, and we shook and zapped each other. I smirked, and said, “Interesting- I might play to lose, just for the chance to walk around naked for two weeks. It’d be one hell of a snub against the LCA to get even for the last couple months, at the least. However, I’ll see about winning instead- I think that technology would be much more of a benefit to the world at large, and besides, we can run that as a secondary bet later on.”

She giggled, and then her face turned serious again. “Now, according to the results our medlab sent down, your DNA happens to be in the middle to upper 90 percent compatibility range with our DNA. In theory, it is possible for you to father children through me. You understand my concern now, in light of what happened last night?””

I nodded and suppressed a giggle fit. “That’s good, because unless you have a way to get pregnant from oral sex, I don’t think last night will have any affect. I don’t remember seeing that on the web site your people put up regarding your anatomy.” The redness of her skin was visible through her fur, and before I knew it, I was being tickled without mercy.

A few hours later, Ch’Mrr came over for lunch, and we all discussed what had happened with the collar. Sh’Meral also broke the news to Ch’Mrr what had happen with the two of us on that first night, which did not please him at all. “Why did you hide this from me? I am unable to protect you properly if I don’t know things like this.”

Sh’Meral looked at him, sighed, and grabbed my head and his. Forcing both of us to the floor with me on my back, she initiated the link. {Right.- I was not certain what you would have said or done if I had told you at the outset. In addition, I did some research on my own, and could find nothing along the lines of that happening.}

Ch’Mrr’s mental voice was agitated. {You should have asked me- I have more extensive resources as the elder clan member on board. I know for a fact that this sort of thing has happened quite a number of times in the four thousand years of history I have access to. Several of those times have also been with candidate species, one of which failed the uplift. If anything, I want to know why you kept this from me.}

I blinked, and cut in before Sh’Meral had a chance to say anything. [ _Blame me- I asked her to keep it a secret. I will accept any punishment for this._ ] I felt Ch’Mrr’s massive paw bear down on my sternum. {The only punishment our people have for keeping such a secret from us is death- She knows this, and you shall to. I am very sorry, but this is something I cannot forgive.}

Before I heard my ribs crack, I felt a surge of magic from Sh’Meral as she forcibly shifted me from human to full form, and in the process, all three of our minds merged, if only for a few seconds. The pressure on my sternum vanished as I heard his cry of pain mix with both mine and Sh’Meral’s. I passed out as everything went black.

I woke up to see Ch’Mrr’s face staring into mine. He started without preamble. “I think I understand your point of view now, as you understand mine, and as we both understand Sh’Meral’s. I want to apologize for my earlier actions; I have dishonored myself and my clan.”

Still in pain, I shook my head slowly. “No. No shame or dishonor falls upon you. It is I that should have apologized, and opened myself to you much earlier. The shame and dishonor is mine, and I can only hope to redeem myself in some manner for these actions.”

I heard Sh’Meral’s cough above my head as she spoke. “I think the phrase is ‘Apology accepted.’ Now that we have cleared that matter up, I need some assistance preparing lunch, and I need my human back in his normal form for the rest of the weekend.” Ch’Mrr helped me get slowly to a chair, and made sure I didn’t fall over as I painfully shifted back to human. He then helped me stand up as the pain subsided, and I said three words before helping with lunch. “As you wish.”

Sunday evening came around and, aside from the drama Saturday morning, things had gone fine over the weekend. Saturday afternoon had been spent either in the pool, around the pool, or watching movies on the television inside. I won’t go into the details of the evening and overnight, but it was... enjoyable. Sunday morning I had sent the Archmage a short message to bring me a spare change of clothes and a few other tidbits from my house when he arrived in town, and he had dropped the entire package off that afternoon. Ch’Mrr had taken me aside after dinner Sunday; we went into the spare bedroom and had a lengthy discussion via telepathy over what had taken place and the extent of our separate abilities. One thing I had found out was just how large a sacrifice he had made when he accepted his bonding, and that while he loved Sh’Meral as much as I did, it was as a true brother then an actual lover. He also described the circumstances that brought the two of them together, something which I had not gleaned from my exposure to either of their minds. He had just finished when Sh’Meral came into the room, and gave the two of us a collective hug.

“So, what are the two of you conspiring about back here?”

Ch’Mrr chuffed and told her that he was relating clan history, starting with how the two of them met. She nodded and then asked us if we had lost track of time. I grinned and spoke up. “Well, not much room to carry a clock on me, unless it’s a watch or on a necklace.” She smiled, and said, “Well, it’s almost 11, and I need to give you a review on the weekend and see if you won or lost. There’s something else I need to talk with you about as well.”

Ch’Mrr stood up, gave both of us a hug, and said he ought to be retiring as well, and left to go next door. This left the two of us alone once again. I knelt down, and gave her a hug. Instead of breaking off, however, she latched on and muttered in my ear to carry her to the master bedroom. We reached the bed, and I set her down gently on it. I turned around and sat on the bed next to her, and looked at her face, noticing something that didn’t look quite right. “What’s wrong? You look unhappy about something.”

She nodded, and sighed. “It’s... this.” She gestured at her body in frustration. “While this weekend was OK for it to happen, I can’t break the morph-lock for some reason. Apparently, the universe has decided that I need more punishment for something. Unfortunately, there’s only one sure way to break the morph-lock when it’s stubborn, and...” She sputtered to a stop, and sniffed.

“What is this way? Is there a way I can help?” She nodded. “I know you like me when I’m this size, however, I can’t stay like this- There’s a meeting I need to attend tomorrow with the local city leaders.” I went to hug her, but instead was thrown backwards onto the bed. Climbing on me, she looked me right into the eyes. I finally recognized what I was looking at, and I felt like a grade-A jackass. I wrapped my arms around her, and held her tightly. “I think I finally see what the solution to your problem is. However, you are afraid that if I do, you’ll ruin everything you’ve worked at here. Am I correct in my understanding that Ch’Mrr refused?”

I was on thin ice and I knew it, but instead of getting clawed, she buried her head into my chest, and I heard her voice in my mind. {Yes. He has normally provided this assistance in the past, but when I asked him earlier, he said that it would be improper for him now that I have a lover.} I could hear the muffled sniffles, and I gave it a moment’s thought. [ _Out of curiosity, would I have won if not for this incident?_ ] I felt her nod rather then give any verbal response, and I proceeded. [ _In the bundle of clothes that the Archmage brought over, he included something that I think will resolve this dilemma. Can you either bring that bundle over, or let me up to get it?_ ]

She let me up, and I looked through the extras that the Archmage had included until I found what I wanted. He put a double handful of them in, the dirty old bastard. Grabbing a couple, I climbed back into bed and was facing her- she still had that look on her face.

Holding the package up, I explained what it was, and what it was for, much to her mortification, and later mine when she responded that while the 97-odd percent prevention rate was quite good, the remaining three percent was made up for something else that the tigereans didn’t publish on their web site- they, like our earth tigers, are induced ovulators. The fact that I turned beet red from the ears to my neck got her laughing again, and that look was completely gone and the old look of quiet, perpetual amusement had returned. The rest of the evening from there on was... private... and filed with laughter and giggling.

I woke up the next morning in full morph, and snuggling with a normal-sized Sh’Meral, who had her back facing me. She was doing something with a datapad, and I gave her a slight nip on the ear to let her know I was awake. “And good morning to you, love. You’ll have the information on our comm system downloaded to your workstation at the house by the time you get home, and I’ll have T’Grlf drop off the necessary hardware later today. We’ve assigned you a set of channels for data, voice, and video both in the experimental and the ‘production’ band. It’s up to you to make sure your FCC does not panic with this new stuff. In addition, the Archmage said he has a couple houses lined up that he’d like to show you this afternoon. Will that be all, sir?”

I looked at her closer and confirmed that the collar was not present. She noticed and added, “I sent that back to the archmage with a rather colorful message attached to it from the two of us. I - ‘borrowed’ is the term, yes?- your weapons-grade vocabulary to help compose the response. I’m sure he’ll be mortified at some of the more original combinations.”

“Who are you, and what the hell have you done with my lover?!”

We woke Ch’Mrr up with our laughter.


End file.
